Okay this was written on a bus on my way to college after being awake for 36 hours to catch up on a deadline. Apparently when sleep deprived, my brain likes to hurt people.
It's pretty raw and kinda unedited, also pretty short, but I figured I'd post it anyway x]
"…Hey sweetie." The voice was not quite what she was expecting.
"Root?" She frowned at the sound of laboured breathing on the other end.
"Are you busy~?" The trademark RootSmirk© was somewhere in her voice but Shaw's frown deepened.
"Cut the shit. What's going on? You sound half dead." Half dead was an understatement.
She wasn't worried exactly, but if Root was bleeding out in fuck-only-knew-where she wanted to know about it.
A choking cough on the other end sounded almost like a laugh and suddenly Shaw was on her feet, jacket in hand and cash left on her table beside a half finished beer.
"Worried about me, Sameen?" She didn't have time for an eye roll at the flirtatious edge that somehow managed to cling to the weak and raspy whisper the woman's voice was becoming.
"Where are you? I'm coming." She tried hard to sound annoyed.
So why did it sound like a promise?
"You are worried. Admit it~." Root's sing-song voice sent a sick pang through her stomach that she couldn't name. Had she lost so much blood she'd become delirious?
"Root. Tell me where you are." She growled down the phone and heard nothing but a weak chuckle in reply, followed by a pained groan.
"Why can't you just admit we'd be great together?" The playful edge was fading fast and so were the vague remains of strength in Root's voice.
Shaw's heartbeat kicked up a notch.
"Now is not the time! Where are you?!" She was shouting now, not even taking note of the people turning to stare at her as she unlocked her car.
"Nu-uh, you gotta say it first…" She was slurring, her words tumbling into one long mumble that Shaw had strain to understand. An unpleasant feeling was rising in her throat, like she was going to be sick but her stomach was in too many knots to accomplish it.
"Root-" She began but then stopped. There would be no arguing with her at this point, she was probably so delirious that she'd let herself bleed to death while being stubborn.
Letting out a deep breath, she closed her eyes tight, unable to bare the idea of looking at herself in the mirror while she said this.
"Fine. Yes- Maybe. We might be okay. Together." She huffed her annoyance through gritted teeth and waited for the inevitable gloating that would come from the ridiculous woman on the other end.
There was nothing but silence, not even the sound of breathing anymore.
Unnameable feelings tried to claw their way up her throat.
"30, East Twenty third Street, apartment five." The words were barely a croak and seconds later Shaw's foot was flat on the accelerator.
She was close.
She would make it on time.
-30 East Twenty third Street, apartment five-
Her eyes slid shut of their own accord as exhaustion rushed forward to meet her.
She was so tired.
Fine. Yes- Maybe.
A smile twitched one corner of her mouth even as the tang of blood lingered on her tongue.
She'd said it.
Her mind faded in and out of consciousness so often she couldn't have told anyone how long It had been since she's called the grumpy ex-agent.
She liked being out cold, it was peaceful.
Every time she woke up she heard crackled cursing and the low growl of an engine as speed limits were being broken. Something about it was almost sweet.
The sound of a slamming car door echoed through the haze in her head and her smile grew wider.
That smile remained.
Even as her heart stopped.
"Root?"
Sorry x]